Sunday, April 26, 2015

To paint a landscape is to engage in something greater than myself. It is a marvelous recognition of how small and powerless I am – when faced with the shifting light, the weather, the movement of the earth, the changing of the seasons. There is something so refreshing to feeling small on a big planet, in a great universe, held together by an even greater God.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

This painting was based on photos I took on the banks of the James River, Richmond, VA, after our first big snow in February. The evening light through the trees and the twilight shadows on the fresh snow... it was just remarkable. Nothing I can paint could do justice to the beauty of that moment. Oh, but I try. And it's all I can do to try, and point your eyes back to the creation and Creator who makes such beauty all around us.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

I've been doing a bit of cold weather plein air painting recently. There's something about the winter light that I love more than other times of the year -- when the weather is more reasonable.

Not to say that I had a choice between reasonable and cold, just as the poor daffodils started to emerge the East got hit with some record lows and snow. While I enjoy studio painting, there is that "certain slant of light" moves me, it excites me... poor Emily never saw it that way. I may be the only one who wouldn't mind another snow or two, even though it's March.

Top tips for painting in the cold weather:

3. Stand on a car mat instead of the snow.
It's the difference between leaving the spot after 2-3 hours of painting
with toes almost-too-painful-to-walk and toes feeling okay. I could buy
better boots. That would be too easy.

4. Get the paint good and warm before setting out to paint.During the rest of the year I throw my easel loaded with paint in the trunk of my car when
driving to location. In these temps the easel/paint are placed next
to the passenger side floor vents and heat blasted while driving to
location. When the paint gets too cold it becomes "stiff". It won't freeze, but it becomes difficult to move around/mix/paint with.

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